Vehicle Safety Kits

Vehicle Safety Kits

Hey there everybody, welcome back to another exciting post on my vehicles blog! Today I will talk about something that I think is a major issue if you don’t have; Vehicle safety kits. When I bought my first car, the first thing that went in the trunk was a car booster (which is the first thing to buy for a used car, and pre-owned car boosters are just as good and can be found easily online. ) and that was quickly followed by a first aid kit, then a reflective blanket and some more emergency supplies before I picked up a full 25-piece vehicle safety kit for Christmas from my dad. This kit had everything in it to keep me safe in a cold winter for many hours, but there was still stuff I needed. Because of the good samaritan I am, I thought I could include some essentials in an vehicle safety kit for you guys to stay safe out there.

Car Boosters

The Kit Itself

You will need to first have an actual kit, hopefully a sturdy cloth or some other soft material so it doesn't cause any injuries in the case of a crash. This should be big enough to hold your car boosters, a medicine bag and some general safety tools like a hazard cone or triangle and possibly a tire pump that you hook up to a cigarette lighter. Other things to keep inside the kit depend on where you are driving, when I grew up in Canada I would always have an entrenching tool( a collapsable shovel with a serrated blade on one edge and a triangle head) as well as flares, a fire extinguisher, and an emergency sleeping blanket. In the summer months the kit would also have some makeshift fishing supplies as you never know where you will end up after an accident and what you might need. You also want to have some general safety items; flashlights with extra batteries, wind-up radio, rope, a foldable knife, bear bangers, a whistle, a small mirror, water purification tablets, glow sticks, candles and empty cans, a large rain poncho, strike anywhere matches, a compass and anything else you feel can help you in a dire situation.

Vehicle Safety Kit

First Aid Kit

The first things about first aid kits in your vehicle; have two. You want to have a large first aid kit inside your vehicle safety kit, and another small one located somewhere close to the driver or passenger. If something happens on the road requiring a small amount of attention you don’t want to have to find the big kit and take 10 minutes finding the supplies you need. In the small kit you want to have basics; bandages, gauze, medical tape, painkillers, and some polysporin or other antiseptic. In the large first aid kit you want to be more advanced, with some general medical tools for small surgeries that may have to be done( removing deeply impacted splinters or other things) and especially a needle with some medical thread in case any stitches need to be done. Super Glue can also do in a pinch and can be a lot easier to apply though, so I would have both in case. Also good is to have a CPR mask a small bottle of high proof alcohol (replace it once it's open) and since you're keeping it sealed in the trunk there is no under the influence charge coming your way. You can pick up premade first aid kits here if you don’t want to put it together yourself.

Large First Aid Kit

Outside the Kit, in the Trunk

There is a lot of things that probably won't fit in your emergency kit, but you should still have them somewhere in your car in case of the worst case. Spare clothes is the first one. When I lived and worked in Canada, I would at all times have my work bag in my car which included balaclava, a winter hard hat liner, long johns, multiple cold weather sports shirts, two pairs of gloves, a sweater, two pairs of coveralls and a cold weather jacket rated to -60 degrees celsius. Coincidently this is the same stuff my uncle would keep in his campervan for his campervan road trips. Some other things you may want to think about are car boosters like like I mentioned earlier as if you have no battery you are going nowhere. It’s also good to consider either a medium or large tool kit, including a full set of torque wrenches if possible but if not just some a full wrenches. Some other basic more advanced tools are also good to have, like a hatchet and bolt cutters but those are more extreme. Make sure to also include a little bit of rations for yourself and who ever is going with you, some peanut butter and honey in tubes can be really good for getting a jolt of energy. Speaking of rations, it's about time for my supper. Have a good weekend everybody, I will speak to you again next week.